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Jordan Wright
January 13, 2014
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Philip Fletcher as Orsino and Kathy Gordon as Olivia. Photo by Koko Lanham. If you’re planning on seeing Twelfth Night, the tenth production in Synetic Theater’s “Silent Shakespeare” series, you’d better dust off your Shakespeare. Because though the plot is predictable, this production will not recall any Shakespeare play in theatre history. In a drop dead fabulous re-interpretation of the 1920’s movie era, Director Paata Tsikurishvili has chosen a cinematic theme as his unconventional backdrop for pantomime, slapstick, killer dance sequences and a highly eclectic music score.
Picture a movie set replete with klieg lights, pulleys, ladders, a giant scrim, a camera dolly, and vintage Moviola editing equipment. On stage left there’s an upright piano concealing a secret bar and Scott Joplin rags play on a Victrola. It’s the Roaring 20’s when the Charleston was king, Chaplin ruled the silver screen, and the Lindy Hop lured partiers high on bathtub gin onto dance floors across America.
 Alex Mills as Sebastian, Kathy Gordon as Olivia and Dallas Tolentino as Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Photo by Koko Lanham Scene One opens with two white-faced clowns in their satins arguing in mime over the Twelfth Night script. The lead clown, a sort of John Huston/Orson Welles mashup, is the director of this film-within-a-play who cuts the action with his clapperboard. Along with his comic cohort they monitor the performers, while seeming to capture the action on film.
And what action it is. Jazz Age flappers cavort with drunken Casanovas in zoot suits and, as per Shakespeare’s best follies, the characters’ intentions get pretty well muddled up. Subtle references translate into major devices as in a complex number in which the dancers become entrapped in an unspooling reel of film. The use of the large scrim to separate the scenes is clever, but when it’s used to show occasional quotes from the play, projected in the style of the silent film era as intertitles, the words often become obstructed by the actors and props and ultimately serves only as a distraction.
 Philip Fletcher as Orsino and Irina Tsikurishvili as Viola. Photo by Koko Lanham. Assistant Director/Music Director Irakli Kavsadze has selected some astonishingly varied pieces to accompany the dancers. I recognized “Santa Lucia”, “Yes, Sir! That’s My Baby!”, “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got that Swing)” and even the “Mexican Hat Dance” tossed in among jazz era tunes, classical music, opera, and an original score by award-winning Composer Konstantine Lortkipanidze.
Set Designer Phil Charlwood and Lighting Designer Colin K. Bills have meticulously channeled the era placing Viola (Irina Tsikurishvili), Orsino (Phillip Fletcher), Malvolio (Irakli Kavsadze), Olivia (Kathy Gordon), Feste (Ben Cunis), Sebastian (Alex Mills), Sir Toby Belch (Hector Reynoso), Fabian (Vato Tsikurishvili), Maria (Irina Kavsadze), and Sir Andrew Aquecheek (Dallas Tolentino) into this stylishly romantic farce. The cast is beyond marvelous – – utterly in synch and balance. You’ll see no scene-stealers here, though Fletcher’s Orsino is perhaps the most adorably absurd of the Lotharios.
Costume Designer Kendra Rai punctuates the theme using a black, white and silver palette to convey the dazzling period.
Highly recommended.
Through February 16th at Synetic Theater, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington in Crystal City. For tickets and information call 1-866-811-4111 or visit www.synetictheater.org.
Thank you dear readers for pursuing life’s intriguing and ever-evolving adventures with Whisk and Quill in 2013. This December celebrates my sixth year as a food and travel writer and third year as theatre critic for the Alexandria Times. And though my life has gravitated more to the keyboard than cooktop, to the frequent inquiries about my work as a chef, I say, “Yes! I still enjoy catering private events.”
This year I shared my column, “Nibbles and Sips Around Town”, with the area’s most comprehensive theatre website, www.DCMetroTheaterArts.com. Since they share their content with www.BroadwayStars.com, I now have the only non-theatre column on both sites.
One of the biggest surprises of the year was when Indian Country Today magazine, where I have contributed pieces on American Indian Culture and the Arts for the last three years, chose my feature story on the discovery of the long-lost silent film, The Daughter of Dawn as one of their “Top Ten Best Stories of the Year”. And in keeping with neighborhood participation, in June I was chosen as the sole judge for the “Taste of Del Ray”, one of the most fun events I have ever participated in.
For www.TheCredits.org the website of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) I interviewed leading Hollywood directors Ariel Vromen and James Franco, Academy Award-winning Superman musical composer, Hans Zimmer, and writer-directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash of The Way, Way Back.
I even had the opportunity to interview a Cirque de Soleil artist and the Artistic Director of Cavalia when those shows raised their tents in town. Noted Jazz musicians Ski Johnson (Saxophonist), Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and Marcus Johnson (Keyboardist) were featured on our site this year too, as were interviews with songstresses Iris DeMent and Grace Potter.
There were articles on local, national and internationally renowned chefs, tons of restaurant reviews, food events, farmers, vintners (Barefoot Wine founder Michael Houlihan was featured in February), breweries, new food products (Jose Andres launched a line of Spanish delicacies), and cookbooks with so many local chefs publishing this year (check out December’s column). I even braved a chef-driven “Snakeheads at the Harbor” dinner in Georgetown…all in the name of research, don’t you know.
Travel took us from Oxford, MD along the Chesapeake Bay and Culpeper, Virginia to Airlie House and the Castleton Festival in the Virginia countryside, and later to Tallahassee and Wakulla County, Florida where we ate as many oysters and shrimp as the law would allow. All the while meeting innovative chefs, farmers, musicians and those whose spirits would raise ours to new heights.
Wines were especially high on the “To Do” list with tastings of Greek, Israeli, Brazilian, French, American, New Zealand and Serbian vintages. In celebration of her recently published memoirs, I shared a lovely lunch at Fiola with Margrit Mondavi, the “First Lady of Napa Valley” and “Grande Dame” of the Mondavi Winery. We also visited the Stillhouse Distillery to learn how they make their whiskey and bourbon, an experience I shared with readers in August.
In the “Travel” section posh properties were scrutinized or extolled, while in the “Theatre” section dozens of shows were picked or panned – all without one single advertiser on our Whisk and Quill website.
In July we were thrilled to welcome a very special guest contributor to Whisk and Quill. Cary Pollak is an accomplished chef and well-known DC area food writer. He’s also a successful attorney, but we won’t hold that against him. Pollak has already given us exciting stories on New York’s Fancy Food Show, DC’s Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show, a recipe for his glorious French Fruit Tarte (Pollak also hosts cooking classes on baking and East Indian cooking), a “Celebration of the Grape” at Zaytinya, a November piece on Ridgewell’s turning 85 years-old, and a comprehensive piece on his travels to Central Texas and the food scene there. Look for more terrific stories from Pollak in the upcoming months.
So here’s to 2014 and another year of reporting to inspire, tempt and dazzle you to create your own journeys. Let’s drink a cuppa kindness, or whatever lovely spirits you may have handy, for the auld year and for a scintillating, theatrical and scrumptious New Year!
Cheers!
Jordan
Jordan Wright
December 27, 2013
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Louise (Maria Rizzo) becomes Gypsy Rose Lee in the musical “Gypsy.” – Photo by Teresa Wood. When lyricist Stephen Sondheim and composer Jule Styne’s original production of Gypsy hit Broadway in 1959 I witnessed Ethel Merman play Rose, a role that many said was tailor made for her and her alone. But though the show has been through many incarnations and Rose has been performed by some of the finest performers who have ever graced the Great White Way, today is another day, and we are lucky to have Sherri L. Edelen, a local actress who also seems to have been born to play the role of the stage mother.
Wikipedia defines a stage mother as an “individual prone to obnoxiously demanding special treatment for her child, or suggesting that the individual has placed inappropriate pressure on her child to succeed. Some believe that a ‘stage mom’ is vicariously living out her own dreams through her child.” That the tradition lives on (ponder the current TLC’s Toddler’s and Tiaras) is indisputable. That after all these years it is still being played out in families around the world is undeniable. I should know. As a child descended from three generations of show business, we are quite familiar with the role.
In Signature Theatre’s current production of Gypsy Director Joe Calarco has breathed new life into author Arthur Laurent’s classic backstage saga. His interpretation has been infused with so much talent, heart and energy, it’s happily bursting at the seams.
Let’s start with the cast. And what a stupendous cast it is, chock-a-block with powerhouse voices and dazzling dancers. There’s Sherri L. Edelen as Rose, Mitchell Hebert as Herbie, Maria Rizzo as Gypsy, Erin Cearlock as Baby June, Nicole Mangi as grown up June, Sandy Bainum as Tessie Tura the stripper with a heart of gold, Tracy Lynn Olivera as Electra, Carolyn Cole as Renee aka Agnes, Donna Migliaccio as Mazeppa, plus twelve other actor/dancer/singers that make up this delicious cast. If you know musical theatre in our area you probably know most of these performers and their reputations as some of the best in the biz.
 Momma Rose (Sherri L. Edelen, left) places her bets on daughter Louise (Maria Rizzo) – Photo by Teresa Wood. The story of Gypsy is inspired by the famous burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee’s memoirs and features some of the most memorable music in Broadway’s history – – songs like “Some People”, “Small World”, “If Momma Was Married”, “Let Me Entertain You”, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” for starters. It’s a tale of two cute little girls and their tenaciously ambitious mother, a woman whose reason for living is to see her children become stars, even if they have to live out of a suitcase. As Rose puts it to her own father before leaving him, “Anyone who stays home is dead!”
 Herbie (Mitchell Hébert, right) makes a point clear to Pastey (Steven Cupo) backstage in the musical “Gypsy,” – Photo by Teresa Wood. It’s the peak of Vaudeville’s heyday when Rose meets Herbie, a onetime talent agent, now traveling salesman. Together they become a formidable duo devising a child act with June, Louise and a couple of stray boys they find along the way. June is the star of the kiddie act, a precocious child with blonde ringlets and a megawatt smile who begins to tire of being forced to play the perpetual child by her desperate mother. “As long as I have this act, no one is over 12!” Rose admonishes.
Lighting designer Chris Lee manages the aging process with the clever use of strobe lighting to “magically” switch out the children to older actors during a frenetic dance routine. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the dozens of set changes in which stage-height fabric panels printed with Vaudeville era advertisements are moved from front to back and side to side throughout the show. It is distracting and awkward even though the quite visible “stagehands” are dressed in period clothing. After awhile you come to expect it, though it doesn’t seem like the smoothest way to transition scenes.
In Act Two the action really heats up when Louise takes a job at Minsky’s, a notable New York burlesque house where she becomes Gypsy Rose Lee, who was in reality the highest paid stripper in history.
 Louise (Maria Rizzo) sings “Let Me Entertain You” in the musical “Gypsy.” – Photo by Teresa Wood. Highly recommended.
Through January 26th at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.
Jordan Wright
December 16, 2013
Dozens of fascinating and inspiring cookbooks have landed on our desks this year. Some from new writers, others from established authors, all eager to bring you into their kitchens and bars to tantalize you with recipes both retro and re-imagined. I’ve tried to pick out a few that are not on everyone’s radar. Here are a few that caught my eye…and my palate.
In Great Pub Food: Make Home Your New Local by Rachel Lane (Hardie Grant, London, 2013) the title says it all. In this nifty book Lane brings over 80 recipes of old school pub fare like Tandoori Chicken Burgers, Beef and Guinness Pie, Cornish Pasties and Rabbit Cacciatore into the home kitchen. Her desserts are comfort food for Brits and the Anglophiles amongst us. Two of my favorites are Eton Mess, a dessert that piles on heaps of heavy cream and strawberries, and Chocolate Stout Pudding that uses as an ingredient the creamy head from a glass of stout. Cozy up to this book before the first snow falls.
Edward Lee is a celebrated Korean chef who has been in Kentucky long enough to reinvent Southern cuisine. In Smoke & Pickles – Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen (Artisan Books, 2013) he has brought his Korean cooking techniques to bear on classic down-home cooking.
A three-time James Beard Foundation Award finalist for Best Chef: Southeast he has been perfecting his recipes at 610 Magnolia and MilkWood, his two successful restaurants in Louisville, Kentucky, a city he has called home for the past ten years. In this book he teaches you many of his tricks of the trade – – like how to make your own smoker on the cheap, and how to cure lamb for bacon. To warm the cockles of your heart, you’ll want to try his Asian-style ribs with kimchee and his Braised Brisket with Bourbon-Peach Glaze. While the Whiskey-Ginger Cake with Pear Salad is in the oven, you could be making his Pickled Chai Grapes. Stories of his Korean-American life in Brooklyn, New York add interest to the more than eighty recipes. According to Lee, “I am hoping to capture the inspirational journey of my life and cooking, even as I struggle to remember last night’s cooking.”
Vegans will want to get in on Vegan Slow Cooking by Kathy Hester (Fair Winds Press 2013). With over 100 recipes geared to a smaller-sized 1.5- to 2-quart slow cooker (crockpot) it’s a fantastic way to have something hot and hearty waiting for you at the end of a long day. I’m eager to try the Root Veggie Barley Risotto, Green Beans in Black Bean Sauce with Tofu, or the Bananas Foster for Breakfast – – a dish that cooks overnight. Perfect for Sunday brunch in bed!
There are delicious-sounding soups like White Bean Barley Soup and Creamy Celery Root Soup. There’s even a fondue made with almonds and Great Northern beans. Hester includes recipes for Cashew Cream, a great substitute for soy-free sour cream, and a budget-friendly chapter for DIY spice blends. Did you know you could bake in your slow cooker? Hester does, making brownies and even an Apple Chocolate Chip Nut Bread Pudding! Now if everyone would eat vegan just one day a week…
You may have caught the CNN series Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown, in which our hero teams up with local guides to explore some of the world’s most exotic locales. The episode that most delighted me was the one on Sicily, an autonomous country smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean. Many times conquered, and thus culinarily influenced by Greece, Italy, North Africa, Turkey and France, it is a wind-swept landscape of farmers and fishermen.
If you’ve ever been captivated by this rugged region…its beauty, its volcanic soil, its hearty foods and its equally hearty wines, pick up a copy of Sicily (Phaidon, 2013) and transport yourself to its charms. This wonderful book tells the history of the island with nature-inspired photographs and authentic recipes from the nine widely diverse regions of the island – – Siracusa, Palermo, Messina, Enna, Racusa, Catania, Trapani, Caltanisetta and Agrigento.
Most dishes reflect the simplicity of the ingredients and the casual style of preparation from Sicilian pizza, Sfincione, and Timballo, the region’s signature layered pasta dish, to Maltagliati con L’Aggrassatu, a flat pasta with a buttery, cheesy, veal sauce. Each chapter begins with a beautiful story giving recipes that employ regional indigenous products.
In The Way We Ate: 100 Chefs Celebrate a Century at the American Table (Touchstone, 2013) we can virtually sit at table with today’s most renowned chefs, restaurateurs and food writers (and a singer) from Jacques Pepin, Daniel Boulud and Anita Lo to Chef/Owner Michael Lomonaco of New York’s iconic Windows on the World, Chez Panisse founder Jeremiah Tower and Shanna Pacifico of Back Forty and Back Forty West in Soho. Celebrated food photographers and The Way We Ate Tumblr bloggers, Noah Fecks and Paul Wagtouicz, have created an extravagantly illustrated cookbook chronicling the rich culinary history of the last American century. Here’s the twist. Each chef and food writer has developed an original recipe inspired by a specific year in history from 1901 to 2000.
Local chef extraordinaire José Andrés has dreamed up a re-do of Beijing Glass Noodles, while award-winning chef and cookbook author Jasper White takes a turn at updating Old-Fashioned Cod Cakes. These are super chef-driven recipes, simply described and with beautiful photographs. The first one I’ll prepare will be singer Kelly Hogan’s Breaded Pork Chops with Tart Cherry Caraway Port Wine Sauce. Now where did I stash that bottle of port?
It’s always a good time to throw a party, but in Le Petit Paris: French Finger Food (Hardie Grant, 2013) Nathalie Benezet shows you how to do it the Parisian way. From Croque Monsieur to Foie Gras Burgers and Camembert Fondue, this adorable book offers chic ideas for any hostess or picnicker. I particularly like the petite Salade Nicoise in tiny butter lettuce cups for stylish tailgating, and the easy-to-make Grand Marnier Truffles.
For the hipster on your list, you can’t go wrong with Lust for Leaf: Veggie Crowd-Pleasers to Fuel Your Picnics, Potlucks and Ragers (Da Capo 2013) by Alex Brown and Evan George, a.k.a. Hot Knives. That I don’t know what a “rager” is I’m sure speaks volumes, but no matter, the book is great fun and inspirational in the bargain. The two gonzo journalists and California denizens have made their mark by partying with their friends and sharing the photos of their outdoor cooking adventures. I really enjoyed this book, though it took me longer to type out the title than to flip through it, but not so long I couldn’t get a sense that these two wild and crazy guys are as serious about their bourbon as they are about their BBQ, beer pairings and musical suggestions. Can you make Kale Slaw while drinking Lagunitas beer and digging “Raw Ramp” by T. Rex”? They’d like you to try. Peanut Butter, Banana & Pickle Power Bars? Maybe not. But if I’m drinking the suggested Stone beer and listening to “Clay Stones” by We Are the World, well, why not?
How would you like to have access to wholesome fresh greens loaded with protein and nutrients even in the middle of winter? How about right in your own kitchen all year long and for pennies? Then why not make a garden indoors by growing your own sprouts, a fun and inexpensive activity I haven’t revisited since my college days.
Rita Galchus, author of Homegrown Sprouts (Quarry Books 2013), makes it a snap, to grow your own sprouts explaining three major methods – – from growing them in a Mason jar or using a hemp-sprouting bag or even a sprouting tray specifically made for this simple task. Anyone can do it and kids will get a kick out of growing their own food. A big trend now is chia seed pudding, which I have seen at Le Pain Quotidian and Whole Foods. But why not make your own? It’s a snap.
The book has 200 helpful photographs and ideas for how to incorporate nutrient-rich sprouts into your breads, salads, juices and spreads. You can even share these phyto-packed treats with your pets. Most sprouts only take a few days to pop out of their tiny seeds and provide a super-nutritional food source. Try radish, barley, arugula, rice, flax and sesame, or grow your own snow pea and sunflower shoots used by chefs in some of the best restaurants.
Local and Notable 
One of Virginia’s most colorful and delightful food and wine writers comes to us from the Hampton Roads and Chesapeake regions. Patrick Evans-Hylton, co-host of NPR’s locally produced show What’s Cooking Wednesday and food reporter for The Hampton Roads Show has written a marvelous compendium of Virginia recipes. It’s called Dishing Up Virginia. Using his extensive knowledge of colonial foods and recipes from some of the Commonwealth’s best chefs, Evans-Hylton has crammed the book with evocative photos from bay to farm. It’s a marvelous collection that belongs on every Southern cook’s shelf. Follow Patrick at www.PatrickEvansHylton.com.
Local food writer and pop culture archaeologist Nevin Martell has teamed up with Farmers Restaurant Group and Executive Chef Joe Goetze to create a cookbook showcasing the recipes from Founding Farmers restaurant. The Founding Farmers Cookbook: 100 Recipes for True Food & Drink from the Restaurant Owned by American Family Farmers (Andrew McMeel Publishing 2013) is a healthful, casual, rustic style of cuisine featuring recipes that use the farm-sourced products incorporated in their seasonal menus. If you’ve ever dined at the DC-based restaurant you’ve most likely swooned over the Seven-Cheese Mac & Cheese Salmon, Crab and Lobster Devil-ish Eggs, or the Many Vegetable Salad with 13 different veggies. Healthy never tasted so heavenly! These recipes and dozens of other well-loved classic dishes are given here. As Founding Farmers co-partner Mike Vucurevitch puts it, “ A lot of dishes were based on my travels throughout America, which have taken me to every state. Sometimes my life feels like that Johnny Cash song “I’ve Been Everywhere”. To catch more of Martell’s adventures in food writing follow him at www.NevinMartell.com.
Italian cookbook writer and regular contributor to the Washington Post, Domenica Marchetti, tackles her fifth topic with The Glorious Vegetables of Italy (Chronicle Books 2013). Here veggies get 100 chances to shine. It is a tribute to her Abruzzian mother who taught her to roll pasta as a child that Marchetti is expert in all things from an Italian kitchen, both traditional and modern. The vegetable-centric recipes range from soups to antipasti and main dishes to desserts. Some include meat but not as the featured performer. Grilled Lamb Spiedini on a Bed of Eggplant Caponata, Carrot Polenta Cake with Marsala and Pumpkin Gelato show Marchetti’s versatility in the kitchen. Pizza, calzone, panini and pastas are well represented here too. Exquisite photographs by Sang An highlight the beauty of these soulful dishes.
On January 23rd Marchetti will present a five-course dinner featuring dishes from the cookbook at the National Press Club in DC. Wine pairings are included. For details on the ticketed event visit http://press.org/events/verdure.
In Visual Eats: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Modern Italian Cooking (Keith Publications, 2013) renowned DC chef Enzo Fargione shares stories of his upbringing in Turin, Italy alongside insider tales of his restaurant experiences. Known for his culinary sorcery in dishes that stunned the food world when he was at Teatro Goldoni (like the dazzling Four-Minute Smoked Branzino Carpaccio served in a cigar box which your humble scribe has had but once and never forgotten) are here revealed and tailored for the home cook. Now helming the kitchen at his own DC restaurant Osteria Elisir, Fargione aims to reach out and teach the average cook how to be a wizard in the kitchen.
Pati Jinich, Executive Chef at DC’s Mexican Cultural Institute and host of the PBS television series Pati’s Mexican Table: The Secrets of Real Mexican Home Cooking (Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, 2013) has written a companion cookbook of recipes from the show. As in her show the petite blonde with the fiery cuisine shows how you can easily create regional Mexican dishes from Veracruz to Michoacan in your own home. Follow her on www.PatisMexicanTable.com.
Cocktail Confessional 
In Shake, Stir, Pour (Quarry Books, 2013) by Philadelphia mixologist Katie M. Loeb you’ll find beverage recipes both with and without the use of spirits. I’m a sucker for any book that tells a story about each concoction and Loeb does. There are more than four dozen nicely photographed recipes that use her basic syrups and infusions. I loved the Rhubarb, Pear and Thai Basil syrups, as well as infusions like Jalapeno-Cilantro Vodka and Limoncello. The book’s foreword is penned by uber-chef and Philly restaurateur, José Garcés, which gives you an idea of the company Loeb keeps.
As a noted bartender, sommelier and creator of craft cocktails who has written for Bon Appetit, the Los Angeles Times and Food & Wine, Loeb will have you making and shaking up a “Gin-Gin Mule” or a “Rosalind Russell”, a throwback cocktail from New York City’s Stork Club Bar Book published in 1946. She even gives a recipe for the Aquavit that’s used in the drink.
Jordan Wright
December 9, 2013
Special to The Alexandria Times
 (L to R) Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Dr. John Prentice, Bethany Anne Lind as Joanna Drayton, Tess Malis Kincaid as Christina Drayton and Tom Key as Matt Drayton – Photo by Teresa Wood. It’s as rare as hen’s teeth for an iconic movie to be adapted for the stage… especially one that made its debut forty-six years ago. A more familiar formula is turning a successful play or book into a blockbuster movie. But in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, William Rose’s Academy Award-winning film script, playwright Todd Kriedler has done the unusual by taking a film known for its big name stars and created a comic drama that is certain to become an American classic. The question on everybody’s lips is, “Is it still relevant today?”
You may remember the original, a classic starring Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poitier, in which a sophisticated couple’s well-educated daughter brings home a highly educated and much older Black man for dinner, only for her to reveal their love. “My parents love surprises. Surprises make them listen,” she assures him. The liberal-minded Christina (Tess Malis Kincaid) and Matt Drayton (Tom Key), she a gallery owner, he a newspaperman, struggle to accept their children’s romance. “Can I lay down on the ground now?” Christina asks, trying to regain her composure. Basing their disapproval on society’s unwillingness to accept interracial marriage and the struggles they predict will ensue, it all seems clear cut until we discover that Prentice’s parents also share those fears. It’s important to remember that the film came out the same year the archaically titled “Anti-miscegenation” laws were struck down by the U. S. Supreme Court.
 (L to R) Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Dr. John Prentice and Bethany Anne Lind as Joanna Drayton – Photo by Teresa Wood. In contemporary America where we have a bi-racial President and a recently elected New York City intermarried Mayor, do we still need to examine race relations? The answer from my informal survey is a resounding yes! There are still societal concerns from White as well as African-American parents. Whatever the conflicts, real or imagined, the play offers a challenging and continuing dialogue on the subject from both sides and in this play it is handled with great craftsmanship, sensitivity and engaging humor.
David Esbjornson whose impressive directorial bio is as long as your arm, has assembled a remarkable cast, totally in sync with each other. Malcolm-Jamal Warner, whom you’ll remember as Bill Cosby’s son in The Cosby Show, plays the Poitier role of Doctor John Prentice. Warner shows off his poise and comic timing alongside Bethany Anne Lind who takes a charming turn as the Drayton’s daughter.
Set Designer Kat Conley stages the play in the round, which affords an intimate connection to the audience who vacillate between uproarious laughter and moments of breath-holding anticipation. Setting the mood for the 1967 era play Sound Designer Timothy M. Thompson fills the interstices with Peace Movement songs like “If You’re Going to San Francisco”.
 Michael Russotto as Monsignor Ryan – Photo by Teresa Wood. Much of the snappy repartee comes from Tillie, the Drayton’s tell-it-like-it-is housekeeper, played brilliantly by Lynda Gravatt. “Civil rights don’t mean you trust everyone!” she wisecracks. Another scene-stealer is Michael Russotto as Monsignor Ryan, the Irish priest spewing platitudes and comic retorts to Drayton, who he tries to reason with. Also notable are Prentice’s parents, played pitch perfectly by Eugene Lee and Andrea Frye and Valerie Leonard as Hilary St. George, Christina’s self-righteous gallery assistant.
A strong cast at ease in their well-defined characters soars in this touching and screamingly funny play that has all the elements for success – – humor, sensitivity, a great cast and terrific direction.
Highly recommended.
Through January 5th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
December 6, 2013
Cary Pollak for Whisk and Quill
Held at DC’s Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show has seen an annual increase in attendance since Denise Medved first introduced the event in 2001. Featuring a vast selection of products related to both the food and entertainment industries, the show’s success has recently allowed Medved and her Tiny Kitchen, Inc. production company to expand into the Houston and Dallas markets.
Throughout the two-day run attendees enjoy face time with more than 200 local and national vendors, attend “Tasting and Entertaining” workshops, talk to cookbook authors at book signing stations, wander through countless aisles to sample tasty tidbits from some of the finest local restaurants at the “Grand Tasting Pavilion”, shop for gifts at the “Holiday Bazaar” and watch cooking demos on the “Food Lion Cooking Stage”. This year some of the country’s leading chefs gave demonstrations featuring recipes from the National Beef Cook-off Recipe Contest. All these activities were included in the day’s admission charge. Additional ticketed events showcase live culinary performances by celebrity chefs.
 A colorful display of smoked seafood products from the Neopole Smokery of Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC A local luminary who has previously demonstrated at the show is Francois Dionot whose L‘Academie de Cuisine has distinguished itself over the past thirty years as the premier training ground in our area for avocational and professional chefs. Listening to the celebrated chef’s stories about his experiences at well-known restaurants in Europe and the U.S. and about developing the distinguished cooking school, was worth the trip.
 L’Academie de Cuisine founder Francois Dionot, with wife Patrice and daughter Claudine The ever-charming Hugh Acheson, whose easy and friendly manner seemed almost incongruent with the entrepreneurial and culinary skills that have brought him to the top of his profession, was one of the chef demonstrators. Acheson is Chef/Co-owner of the former Five & Ten and The National restaurants in Athens, GA, along with Empire State South restaurant in Atlanta. He is also an occasional judge on Bravo’s Top Chef and holds the honor of being nominated six times for a James Beard Foundation Award. In the past he won “Best Chef Southeast” for his work at Five & Ten. He is the author of the James Beard Foundation Award winning cookbook, “A New Turn in The South”. At this year’s show he dazzled the audience with his version of Frogmore Stew.
 Television chef and restaurant owner Hugh Acheson Joe Yonan, Food and Travel editor at the Washington Post, was also on board. Yonan, who has led his paper’s food writers to two awards by the James Beard Foundation for the nation’s best food section, put his professional chef’s diploma from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and journalism degree from the University of Texas to good use by demonstrating a Kale and Mango Nicoise Salad recipe from his recent cookbook, Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook. He showed us how to massage raw kale leaves so as to soften them for a salad. He pointed out that this technique avoids other harsh methods of softening, such as drenching them in oil and acidic liquids until they wilt.
 Washington Post Food and Travel editor Joe YonanWashington Post Food and Travel editor Joe Yonan Whether you run into Chef Luigi Diotaiuti at a cooking demo or at his acclaimed DuPont Circle restaurant, Al Tiramisu, you know you will be in for good food and good fun. The affable Italian teamed up with food historian, culinary anthropologist, cookbook author and television personality, Amy Riolo, to make pistachio nut baklava. Off stage onlookers were so close they were asked to participate. We all helped to pile on layers of phyllo dough and watched as the chef drenched the dessert in lemon-infused sugar syrup.
 Food Writer Cary Pollak makes baklava with Chefs Amy Riolo and Luigi Diotaiuti Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos, the husband and wife team who star on the cooking show, Extra Virgin, on The Cooking Channel, were also at the show. Debi is an American actress who counts the iconic movie Goodfellas among her credits, and Gabriele is a musician from Tuscany. They are both consummate entertainers who love to cook. Together with their young daughter, Giulia, they put on a lively demonstration of Tuscan cooking, preparing seared grouper over Israeli couscous. At one point things got a bit racy when Debi admitted that they argue when they cook. Gabriele agreed that they resolve their disagreements by drinking wine … or by “making kids”. Realizing that the discussion was getting off topic, seven-year old Giulia drew laughs from the audience by asking, “You guys know I’m here, don’t you?”
 Debi Mazar, Gabriele Corcos and daughter Giulia on the Celebrity Stage The Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show is great family fun for those who enjoy learning more about food and entertaining. There are culinary delights of all types from chatting with vendors and sampling their wares, to meeting cookbook authors, to enjoying cooking demonstrations by notable American-based chefs. Plan on visiting this exciting open-to-the-public show when it returns in the fall of 2014.
Chef Diotaiuti and his partner Amy Riolo are planning a culinary tour beginning in Istanbul and continuing to Athens and the Greek Isles next October 2014. They have graciously consented to share their recipe for Pistachio Baklava with Whisk and Quill’s readers.
Baklava is enjoyed throughout much of the Mediterranean and Middle East thanks to the influence of the expansive Ottoman Empire that ruled much of the region for centuries. This version is most popular in Turkey. During our upcoming culinary cruise from Istanbul to Athens, we’ll experience hands-on phyllo making at Istanbul’s most legendary confectionary shop.
 Pistachio baklava
Pistachio Baklava/Fistik Baklava
Recipe by Amy Riolo and Luigi Diotaiuti.
Makes approximately 24 pieces
Ingredients
For the syrup:
3 cups granulated sugar
2 large strips of lemon peel
Juice of 1 small lemon
For the baklava
1 (1 pound) box phyllo dough, thawed according to package directions
1 cup clarified butter
1 pound shelled unsalted pistachios, finely ground
¼ cup granulated sugar
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Butter a 13×9-inch baking pan.
- Make the syrup by combining sugar, 3 cups water, peel, and juice in a medium saucepan.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Discontinue stirring and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes and set aside to cool.
- To assemble the baklava, remove phyllo dough from package. Trim it with a sharp knife to fit the pan you are using, if necessary. Wrap excess dough in plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Cover bottom of baking pan with 1 sheet of phyllo dough. Brush clarified butter evenly over the top. Stack another sheet over the top. Brush with more clarified butter. Continue stacking and brushing with butter until half of the phyllo dough is used.
- Combine pistachios with sugar in a medium bowl. Mix well to combine.
- Sprinkle ground pistachio mixture evenly across the top, reserving a few tablespoons for garnish. Continue layering remaining phyllo dough and brushing with clarified butter. Brush top layer with clarified butter.
- Position the pan as if it were a rectangle. With a long, sharp knife, cut phyllo into 6 strips vertical strips across the wide side of the pan(three-quarters of the way down).
- Cut 4 equally spaced vertical lines over the strips (three quarters of the way down) to create 24 squares. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes total, or until golden. Rotate pan every 20 minutes to ensure even browning.
- Remove from oven and drizzle with one ladleful of syrup at a time – allowing syrup to absorb in between ladlefuls. Once baklava has a glistening top and has absorbed syrup, discontinue adding more. Reserve additional syrup for a garnish if serving baklava at a later date. Syrup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Once cooled, sprinkle tops of baklava pieces with a few ground pistachios. Baklava can be covered and stored at room temperature for a day, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Always drizzle with additional syrup before serving.
To find out more about Amy and Luigi’s upcoming tour visit – http://www.yourcruisesource.com/two_chefs_culinary_cruise_-_istanbul_to_athens_greek_isles_cruise.htm.
Photo credits: Cary Pollak
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